‘Dangerous’ Leeds killer tracked to London

William Kerr, 53, who has links to West Yorkshire and Hull, was arrested in London on Friday.

Kerr absconded from an ‘approved premises’ in Hull on March 26, which was a breach of his licence conditions and led to a nationwide search to trace him led by North Yorkshire Police.

Police had previously advised that Kerr is “dangerous” and should not be approached.

Following an appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch on Thursday last week, officers received information which led them to the Waterloo area of London.

Kerr was arrested in the street at around 7pm on Friday after being spotted by detectives from North Yorkshire Police, who were accompanied by The Metropolitan Police’s Homicide Task Force.

Detective Inspector Eamonn Clarke, of North Yorkshire Police, who led the search for Kerr, said: “Thanks to some information received following the Crimewatch appeal and some further information passed to Crimestoppers we were able to track Kerr to a specific area of London.

“The information was vital to the effort to trace Kerr as he indicated when he was arrested that he was about to leave the London area after seeing himself on Crimewatch.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who came forward.

“I would also like to thank the Metropolitan Police for the assistance they have given us in our efforts to locate Kerr.”

Kerr was jailed for life for murder at Leeds Crown Court in June 1998 and released on licence on January 23 2015.

He was jailed along with co-defendent Christopher Moody for the murder of 43-year-old Maurent Comfort, whose body was found in a cupboard in her flat in Leeds.

According to court papers, she was last seen alive on December 4 1995. Her body was found by relatives on January 8 1996. She had been strangled.